UN to Investigate Canada’s Broken Food System

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. Olivier de Schutter, will be arriving in Canada this Saturday 5 May (until 16 May) to look into Canada’s record on the right to food. He will be meeting with government officials and a broad cross- section of civil society groups concerned with the right to food, as well as with Aboriginal peoples.

“Over two million Canadians do not have enough food to eat, and many people who live on government assistance cannot afford to eat a healthy diet. Farmers and fishers are going out of business, and food insecurity rates in many Northern communities are outrageously high. Recent government cutbacks have hit some of the most vulnerable people the hardest. Canada is failing to meet its legal obligations to fulfill the right to food”, said Diana Bronson, Executive Director of Food Secure Canada (FSC). “We will be telling the Special Rapporteur that we need a national food strategy – and that thousands of people across the country have worked for several years to build the People’s Food Policy- the most comprehensive national food policy being advanced in Canada today. This is what needs to be put into practice.”

People across the country are eager to talk to the Special Rapporteur about the food-related problems in their communities, as well as the many innovative measures that the food movement is using to build better food systems. These include helping connect institutions with locally and sustainably grown-food, to urban gardens, school nutrition programs and community kitchens. This will be the first time the Special Rapporteur has undertaken a mission to an OECD country.

Food Secure Canada worked with members and partners to facilitate a joint submission for the Special Rapporteur by non-governmental organizations. The main issues identified by groups include poverty and access to healthy food, Aboriginal peoples, governance, the industrial food model and international issues.

FSC has also helped to organize meetings between the Special Rapporteur and civil society groups in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg. Additional background on his visit can be found here. Updates will be posted at www.foodsecurecanada.org. The Special rapporteur will be not be giving interviews about the situation in Canada until the end of his visit (May 16). Media wishing to be kept informed by his team should be in touch with Yoonie Kim (ykim@ohchr.org), copied to Nicolas Jacobs at Nicholas Jacobs (nicholas.jacobs@uclouvain.be.)

Economic Accessibility and the Right to Food
Wednesday May 9th, 15:00-18:30
Open to the media (no cameras or recorders)
Contact: Nick Saul, The Stop Community Food Centre: nick@thestop.org, (416) 652-7867